Martin Schulz: one step forward and one step back on Strasbourg

The good news: President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz seems to have confirmed his commitment to a single seat for the European Parliament in a Swedish radio interview (very short summary from EUObserver here). Problem: he wants the seat to be Strasbourg and not Brussels.

While such an arrangement may be in the long-term interests of Strasbourg, I am sure it is not in the long-term interests of the European Parliament. With the Commission and Council of the European Union based in Brussels dozens of meetings take place every day between the institutions. A European Parliament based in Strasbourg would mean many more officials making the trip from Brussels to Strasbourg, and MEPs making ad hoc journeys the other way. Such an arrangement might prevent the once a month migration to Strasbourg for the EP, but it would create more confusion and travel than the current arrangement. Hence Schulz’s plan must be resisted.

This could of course be a tactical master plan from Schulz… Make the EP more determined on a single seat, then produce studies to show that Strasbourg is not viable, and it all ends up in Brussels?

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